How to Fit Three Convertible Car Seat in a Sedan

By Hollie Schultz | July 25, 2011

I know many parents expecting their third baby struggle with how to fit three big convertible car seats in the back seat of a sedan or smaller car. In this Baby Gizmo Video Segment, I tell you how I did it.

About Hollie Schultz

Baby Gizmo founder Hollie Schultz is the proud mom of three adorable kids. This certified CPS (Child Passenger Safety) Tech and baby gear expert is the host of the Baby Gizmo video reviews giving moms the inside look at baby products before they purchase them. Hollie is also the co-author of The Baby Gizmo Buying Guide. A former resident of Los Angeles, she and her family now live in North Carolina where she is having a blast designing and decorating her new home.

Comments

How do you feel about the Radian 80SL? I ordered it a couple of days ago and am wondering if I should have spent $30 more on the XTSL? Same weight limits and dimensions — the only difference seems to be the side impact wings…

I wish you’d have shown one of the seats rear-facing. If you have 3 kids in car seats, it’s highly likely that at least one of them should be rear-facing, especially now that the aap recommends rear-facing to a minimum of age 2 and nhtsa recommends rear-facing through age 3.

We registered for this seat. Our son was born on 7/9 weighing 9lb5oz. He LOVES this seat! (we drive A LOT!! He easily has about 750 miles under his belt in two weeks) Once buckled in, he immediately falls asleep. It’s a heavy seat, but solid. He’s much more secure in this seat, and cozy, than in his Graco SnugRide. He rode in that once so far b/c we were going to dinner and I wanted him in the carrier so we could eat…only time he’s fussed in the car. We got the best install (with a certified installer) using the center seatbelt. Later I added the optional tether, hooked into the front seat frame. Though not recommended by Chevy for center install, this seat does fit PERFECTLY in the center of a Silverado 2500 forward facing. It’s been 16 days and I’d buy this again in a heartbeat. (Had Britax Marathon for my older son). Also, the high weight limit coupled with the low profile sides, make it easier for taller rear-facing kids to sit “criss cross applesauce”. The low profile, also makes it more comfortable for those sitting next to the car seat (elbow room).

I wish I knew this back in March we ended up trading our truck for an suv with 3rd row seating. We are looking into a new carseat though so I will put this on my list so it may be easier if we have to use a different car at some point.

We use two of these in our small SUV for my 4-year-old twins. We love them and love the fact that they allowed us to use the infant carrier with base when my 14 month old was a baby where none of the other car seats would fit and still allow room to clip the infant seat in and out. We have one installed in the center with the seatbelt (no latch connectors in the center only on outboard seats) and I will say that it is VERY difficult to get installed tightly on our leather buckets seats and we use the locking clip on the seatbelt, even though we have locking retractors, as well as the rear tether. Once you get past the sometimes difficult install these seats are awesome. I absolutely love the narrow profile of these even though the seat is actually wider than some of the other car seats out there, and I love that I can keep my kids in a 5-point-harness for a LONG time. One other thing I will say is that their customer service is amazing. We got one of these “stuck” in the back seat of a sports car and they were excellent at helping me figure out how to get it out (not an easy task… I could rest assured that my kid wasn’t going anywhere in an accident because this seat was in there like it was glued to the car’s seat). Oh, also SK is one of the few car seat manufacturers that will put their crash test information on their website.

And to add to Patricia’s comment… Remember not to use the two inner of the outboard LATCH’s for the infant carrier/convertible car seat to be place in the center of the back seat. The lower LATCH’s are meant to work together on each side of the car in the event of an accident. Using one from each side to place the car seat in the center defeats that purpose and makes the car seat and placement unsafe for baby. I actually read once that it has the possibility to rip the car seat in half. So be safe with that precious cargo of yours!!

Also, most cars(and my truck) only have the lower LATCH for the two outboard positions. Which means you can either use it for those two, or just the center one, but not all three, as they are not designed to “share” the latch hooks.